Eyeglasses frame with spring biased temple arms



P 22, 1953 LE ROY R. MALECK ,7

EYEGLASSES FRAME WITH spams BIASED TEMPLE ARMS Filed July 13, 1950 Lire27in? L eEby E. Maleck Patented Sept. 22 1953 ()F I CE EYEGLASSES FRAMEWITH SPRING BIASED TEMPLE ARMS.

Le Roy'RrMaleck, Chicago, Ill;

Applicationluly- 18, 1950, Serial No. 173,491.

3 :Claims; 1

The present invention relatesto imp ovements in, ophthalmic mountings.and. more particularly to such mountings having fol'dable temple-.engaging arms.

In. eyeglass frames having slip-on type templeengaging arms, a commonlyexperienced problem has been that of maintaining such. a closeadjustment on the temple gripping action of" the slip-on arms as toprevent slipping of the glasses out of position on the wearer'sface. Anyone who has ever worn this type of glasses has experienced slipping ofthe frame outwardly and downwardly on his nose by reason of failure ofthe temple arms. to maintain an adequategrip which-would preventsuchsliding .01 displacement of the frame.

An important object of the present invention is toprovide an eyeglassframe equipped with slip-on templeswhich are spring biased to maintaincontinuously-a yieldable though positing-grip on the wearers head.

An important obi ectof the invention is to provide improved springbiasing means which is effective between an eyeglass frame and a templearm thereon for biasing the temple arm when in use toward improvedgripping engagement with the wearers head.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved temple armbiasing means for eyeglass frames which can be provided as originalequipment or which may be applied as accessory equipment for existingeyeglass frames. 7

Still another object of the invention is to provide improved eyeglasstemple biasing means which are effective in operation, simple to installand of low cost.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will bereadily apparent from the following detailed description of certainpreferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of eyeglasses and a framecarrying the same, with slip-on temple arms illustrated in foldedcondition and equipped with templ arm biasing means according to thepresent invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of one side of theeyeglass frame;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the eyeglass frame;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of one side of the eyeglassframe;

Figure 5 is a slightly enlarged top plan view similar to Fig. 4 butshowing the temple arm in open position; and

Figure 6. is a fragmentary top plan 'view' of a similar eyeglass frameshowing a modified arrangementv of, the temple arm biasing spring.

The present, invention has a special utility in plastic eyeglass frameswhich are, quite extensively used at the present time. A, frame, I0;ofthis type, as shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3, comprises the usuallens-supporting loops connected by a nose bridge and with laterallyprojecting bosses ii at the respective outer sides of thelens-supporting loops. Respective slip-on. temple arms 12 are hingedlyattached to the bosses "H by means of appropriatespring structures 13.

Each of the bosses H has a shoulder l4 which opposes a complementaryheel l5 on the associated templev arm for limiting opening movement ofthe temple arm. It, is customary in fitting a pair of glasses, to, ausers requirements, to bend the temple arms to effect reasonably'snugengagement with. the sides of" the users head for holding the. glassesin place. However; for various reasons or. due to various variableconditions arising from'time to time, looseness" in the fit of thetemple arms develops.

According to the present invention looseness in the engagement or gripof the temple arms against the users head is permanently avoided by theprovision of spring biasing means which imparts a yieldable but positivehead-gripping bias to the temple arms. For this purpose a small coiledcompression spring I! is interposed between the stop shoulder l4 and theheel l5 of each of the temple arms. As shown in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive,the biasing spring I! is mounted retainingly in a socket IS in theshoulder I4 of the frame and with the free end portion of the springprojecting substantially beyond the face of the shoulder l4 forengagement with the heel l5 of the temple when the temple is in openposition. As best seen in Figure 4, the socket I4 is only a smallfraction as deep as the length of the spring I! so that the major lengthof the I spring projects from and beyond the face of the shouldergenerally toward the heel of the temple arm. As a result, when thetemple (2 is moved into open position as seen in Fig. 5, the associatedbiasing spring I! is compressed by the heel l5 of the temple and thespring is therefore placed under compression and reacts to effect a biasagainst the heel of the temple tending to move it toward its collapsedcondition so that thetemple is urged into positive though yieldiableiengagement with the side of the wearers It will be observed in Figure 5,that in the open relation of the frame and the temple arm, therespective shoulder and heel surfaces are spaced apart with thecompressed coil spring I! exposed therebetween. Since the major portionof the spring IT projects beyond the surface of the shoulder 14, byreason of the shallowness of the socket [8, even when the spring isfully compressed it will remain in substantial projecting relationbeyond the surface of the shoulder and thereby serve as a spacer betweenthe shoulder and the opposing heel surface to maintain them spacedapart.

Mounting of the coiled biasing spring I! is easily accomplished bysimply drilling a hole to provide the socket iii in the shoulder I4 andof a diameter to have a strong pressed fit engagement with the endportion of the spring.

If preferred, the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 may be utilized wherein acoiled compression spring 11' is mounted in a socket 18' provided in theface of the heel I 5 of the temple I2 rather than in the stop shoulder Mof the eyeglass frame boss H. The operation of this form of theinvention is productive of the same results as where the biasing springis mounted on the stop shoulder of the frame.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the presentinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination in an eyeglass frame and temple arm assembly, aneyeglass frame having at one end a temple arm supportingportionincluding an oblique surface providing a stop shoulder facing generallytoward the inner side of the frame and endwise, a temple arm, saidtemple arm having an end surface providing a stop shoulder oblique tothe axis of the temple arm and generally complementary to and facinggenerally toward said stop shoulder on the frame, hinge means connectingthe frame and temple arm and having its axis adjacent to said shoulders,said axis being substantially aligned with and parallel to saidshoulders, one of said shoulders having a socket therein on an axisnormal to such shoulder, and a coiled compression spring of a length toproject beyond said socket and having an end portion secured in saidsocket so that the spring will not escape from the socket, said springprojecting substantially beyond the socketed shoulder and beingreleasably engageable at its projecting end by the other of saidshoulders for compression of said spring when the temple arm is swungopen, whereby to bias the temple arm toward collapsed relation formaintaining a positive resilient grip on the side of a wearers head.

2. An eyeglass frame and temple arm assembly as defined in claim 1wherein the socket is a hole drilled into the socketed shoulder and theend of the spring within the socket is press fiitted in the socket.

3. An eyeglass frame and temple arm assembly as defined in claim 1wherein the major length of the spring projects beyond the socketedshoulder and when the spring is fully compressed it will remain insubstantial projecting relation beyond the socketed shoulder and serveas a spacer between the shoulders to maintain them spaced apart.

LE ROY R. MALECK.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,942,298 Le Doux Jan. 2, 1934 2,026,723 Wollensak Jan. 7,1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 916 Great Britain Apr. 21, 1854381,604 Great Britain Oct. 10, 1932 162,502 Switzerland June 30, 1933344,817 Italy Nov. 25, 1936

